Questions about specific movies, TV shows and more

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Question: I know this film is supposed to be set in 2004-2005, but does anyone know why the clothes and some of the music seems to be quite old (like 20-30 years ago)?

Answer: The reason the styles and such are so out of date is to signify that the town where "Napoleon Dynamite" takes place is a very small town that is out of touch with current fads and trends. The aged styles also serve to create a sense of nostalgia to the majority of the viewing audience.

Sarah Van Winkle

Napoleon dynamite is set in 2004 but, like some other commenters have said, many of the town's inhabitants are way behind the times, Uncle Rico living in 1982 and proudly proclaiming it, Deb living in the early 1980s with her side ponytail, and the faculty at the school being with a lot of the town's backwardness by playing 1984 songs "Forever young" and "Time after time" at the school dance. However, some of the other townspeople are much more updated with their styles such as Summer and her friends dressing and acting much more up to date, because they're the cool kids who have been able to keep up with America's more modern trends than a lot of the town's being stuck in the past. Also, Summer and her friends may've also travelled like to Los Angeles or some other bigger city more than the others and have been more exposed to the modern world. And because they're the cool kids, they've cared more about that. Alot of the rest of the town, Rico, Deb, school faculty, Napoleon's family, etc., they've either not learned or not cared about getting modernized, probably some of both.

Answer: Shopping for Napoleon's "tuxedo" at a thrift store would explain the old clothes. As far as the music goes I think we all have listened to music from the 80'-90's at one point.

Question: In the Extended Edition, the scene with Saruman, why is Merry sitting on the back of Éomer's horse? The two had not met earlier and Gandalf has room for a hobbit on Shadowfax.

Answer: Most likely, because Gandalf suspected that Saruman would put up a fight and concentrate his magic on him. Placing Merry with Éomer got him out of the direct line of fire, so to speak, and left Gandalf free to concentrate on Saruman.

Twotall

Question: What was the name of the song playing in the Yahoo only trailer? It starts when in says "this January" and goes through to the end. I really like this song and it is driving me mad.

Answer: Yellow brick road - Elton John.

Question: I heard somewhere that Much Music VJ Devon Soltendiek appears in the film somewhere, can anyone tell me where?

Answer: He plays one of the reporters.

Boobra

Question: When Ray and Charlie are in the bathroom, they sing part of a song. What is the song they sing?

Answer: It's "I Saw Her Standing There," written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, released November 1963. In addition to the Beatles, the song has been covered by Elton John, The Grateful Dead, Tiffany, and many others I'm sure.

Matty Blast

In December 1963, Capitol Records released the song in the United States as the B-side on the label's first single by the Beatles, "I Want to Hold Your Hand."

Question: Which Python sings the song "Christmas in Heaven"?

Question: When Jigsaw tells the victims, from one of the tapes, that the order of the combination is 'over the rainbow', what does he mean or how does it work?

Answer: Each of the numbers on the victims' necks are a different colour. If these colours are then put into the order of the colours of the rainbow, the corresponding numbers will be the correct combination.

Kayleigh Green

Question: After watching "Donnie Darko" I watched another film which also featured a character identical to Frank. He too appeared in the dreams of the lead role and had all the traits of Frank. I am pretty sure it was not the film "Harvey", as I do not believe it was a film as old as that. Can anyone help me identify what the other film was?

Answer: I believe this film may have been 'Sexy beast' starring Ray Winstone. It's a British film, and is even listed on the IMDb as similar to Donnie Darko in this sense. In 'Sexy Beast' a human height sized bunny rabbit stalks the dreams of the lead character, played by Ray.

Question: Has there ever been explained why the blood effects were done so weird?

Answer: Quentin Tarantino has stated that he deliberately went over the top with the blood effects, as a homage to a lot of old Oriental martial arts movies in which the spurting of blood was also (unintentionally) over-exaggerated.

Manky

Question: What is the meaning of the scene with the hooded blond woman throwing her child in the street? Frankie sees her, starts yelling, and the scene creates a mysterious mood, but I don't really see any connection to the plot.

Answer: Earlier in the movie Frankie thinks she's pregnant and is contemplating abortion. Hence the throwing the child away reference here.

edelian

Question: Do the actors actually sing or are all of the songs voice overs?

Answer: They actually are doing their own singing.

Boobra

Question: At the end of the film, Lestat bites Malloy, then offers to turn him into a vampire, much the same way he did to Louie. Does Malloy agree to become a vampire, and if he does, what kind of "life" does Malloy live then on?

Answer: In the books, Daniel Molloy isn't attacked by Lestat at the end of the film - Lestat doesn't appear at all. Molloy began a quest to locate Lestat, a quest that fails, but he does meet Armand instead. For some years the two travelled together, with Armand occasionally granting Daniel a sip of vampiric blood, but refusing to fully turn him. Daniel would frequently run away and sink in an alcoholic despair, but the two would always link up again in the end, usually when Daniel had really hit rock bottom. Eventually, Daniel's alcohol abuse did such damage to his body that Armand was forced to turn him into a vampire to stop him dying altogether. The two seperated shortly after, no longer able to tolerate each other. Daniel vanished for some time, eventually resurfacing, having lost his mind, in the care of Marius. What happened to him after that is unknown, although Marius stated that his insanity was only temporary (although precisely what 'temporary' might mean to the 2000-year-old vampire is anybody's guess).

Tailkinker

Question: On disc 2 of the DVD version of Star Wars Revenge Of The Sith, i noticed as i watched the trailers that, in some of them, when Darth Vader's platform that he is lying on is being lifted up, that in some trailers his hands are bolted down pointing upwards, but in the film they are pointing downwards, would this be a deliberate mistake or just something they hoped people won't notice?

Answer: It's something that was changed from the time the trailer was made until the time the film was released. Since the shot with his arms up was not in the actual movie, it is not a mistake.

K.C. Sierra

Show generally

Question: I've never seen the show myself, but I was wondering what kind of a name "Inara Serra" is. I'm assuming Inara is of Portuguese origin, but mostly because the actress was born in Brazil. Can someone please help me with this?

Answer: Inara is actually Arabic in origin; it means "ray of light" or alternatively "heaven sent". Serra, on the other hand, is Portuguese and means "mountain range" - derived from the same word in Latin, where it means 'saw' (as in the cutting implement, which a mountain range might resemble, rather than the act of seeing).

Tailkinker

Question: What is the song played at the credits (the one that is also played when Charlie travels with Irene from Rhode Island), and who sings it?

Answer: It's called 'The world ain't slowing down' by Paul Ellis.

Question: Was there ever a name provided for the character who was dancing with Ivy when she heard the children's screams? He also was one of the men carrying the sacrifice of meat, and might have been the Villager in the tower in the opening credits. He is tall and bearded, and seems to be the "go-to" guy here in the Village.

scwilliam

Chosen answer: There was no name, and I was not under the impression he was indeed the "go-to" guy. Other than dancing with Ivy and participating in the meet ritual, he was not seen in the movie at all.

Question: How many towers were in the valley? Only one is shown in a distant shot, but most scenes show it right up to, and overlooking, a thickly forested area. However, there is one view where the trees in the near background had bare, upright branches.

scwilliam

Chosen answer: There were two towers, one at the north end of the valley, and one at the south end.

scwilliam

Question: I remember seeing a mini series about the Ripper when I was younger, in which Mary Kelley had a new young prostitute (Ada) "under her wing", just as in this film. Did Ada really exist, and if so are there any evidence that might support that she was murdered in Kelley's place?

Answer: Kelly regularly spent time with several other prostitutes, as we see in the film, but there's no particular evidence that Kelly was acting in a sort of mentor role to any of them. There is, however, evidence that Kelly did share a room with another prostitute, so the fictional 'Ada' may have some small basis in fact. However, none of the reports of Kelly's murder give any indication that there was any doubt about the identity of the victim.

Tailkinker

Question: When he stabs the Witch King Merry seems to be breaking his arm. Later when Pippin finds him he is close to unconscious. Éowyn on the other hand seems to be doing quite alright. Yet in the extended edition Éowyn is brought to a hospital and appears to be ill while Merry is fit to get back into battle the next day. Is this a mistake, or am I missing something.

Answer: Merry doesn't actually break his arm - it's more that the foul energy that surrounds up the Witch King affects Merry when he makes the stab. The energies have a detrimental effect of those exposed to it - Eowyn is close to the Witch King for longer, plus she's the one who makes the killing blow, so she gets a more potent dose. Also, her arm is severely damaged physically during the fight, making it necessary for her to receive greater care than Merry does. In the books, both are taken to the hospital and neither goes to the fight at the Black Gate - it was presumably considered better for a cinematic audience that Merry should go, rather than sidelining one of the Fellowship during the climax of the film.

Tailkinker

Question: I have to question what killed the speedboat's crew at the beginning of the movie. I don't think the Pteradons would be that fast in attacking and they were locked in the cage. I doubt the Spinosaurus would go that far out to sea and kill the people that quickly. What other dino(s) could have done it out at sea and so fast (and were so messy eaters)?

Answer: This passage isn't very satisfying. There certainly were a large number of predatory marine reptiles, but they would have difficulty with a speeding boat, and if they were out in the water, why would they stay just around the island? The Pterosaurs would have been visible, even if they were loose to attack. The Spinosaurus and other terrestrial dinosaurs might paddle across shallow water, but they're not going to grab people off a moving speedboat. Effective scene but hard to correlate to the local lifeforms.

scwilliam

It was pterosaurs. They were already hanging out in the fog. Apparently some were already loose. It even specifically says it's them in either a deleted scene towards the end of the movie, or an alternate ending, when the group gets to the shore and sees the crashed speedboat. It says something like grant recognizes (yes, paleontologists know what pterosaur footprints/tracks look like), or deduces that the prints/scratches/damage appear to be from pterosaurs.

Answer: It was pterosaurs. They were already hanging out in the fog. Apparently some were already loose. It even specifically says it's them in either a deleted scene towards the end of the movie, or an alternate ending, when the group gets to the shore and sees the crashed speedboat. It says something like grant recognizes (yes, paleontologists know what pterosaur footprints/tracks look like), or deduces that the prints/scratches/damage appear to be from pterosaurs.

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